OMG!! (1999/2000) The horror of all those web tv/ dishplayers being sent back for another one, that was also broken flashed across my mind. I think I did RMAs like 5 or 6 times before I realized they weren't going to fix it and I needed to be able to watch tv. I ended up trading in the dishplayer to dishdepot.com for another receiver like the 301 and then a 501 pvr when it came out.
Right. And by "they" not going to fix it, you mean Microsoft. The problem for Dish customers with the original DishPlayer line was that Echostar (at that time Dish was merely the brand name for the DBS service of Charlie Ergen and friends Echostar Corp.) provided the hardware while Microsoft provided the software. It seemed like a good idea until MS would seem to take forever to address problems with the DishPlayer that were SOFTWARE matters, and there was nothing Dish could do to get MS to act with any sense of urgency, especially with Dish customers calling to complain and wanting things fixed. MS just didn't seem to care. This is the reason Ergen decided to develop an "in-house" DVR solution and publicly stated he would NEVER have such a relationship again where his company could not directly address product stability matters ever again.
And, shortly after this period of MS silence on DishPlayer software issues, MS launched its own DVR and service known as Ultimate TV. WHAT A COINCIDENCE! Seems there is a reason for everything after all. Microsoft had an interest in doing nothing about DishPlayer issues.
But I have to say, as "featureLESS" as the 50X series was, I LOVED them for what they could do, and later got a 510, and, of course, the 721 has a special place in my heat because all it was missing was Name Based Recording. After the 721, it was not until the Hopper that a decent weather feature returned to Dish DVR's. I also like the UI and colors of the 721. Frankly, I still prefer the UI and colors of the 922, and, unlike what many reported, that DVR NEVER gave me problems.